They work tirelessly all day under the harsh rays of a blazing sun, the stench of death and destruction around them. They are a team of Jewish heroes who are working around the clock with one mission: the recovery of human bodies.

The SA Friends of the Beit Halochem Zahal Disabled Veterans Organisation was established in Johannesburg in 1982, its primary goal being to help and support Zahal disabled veterans by raising funds to help them return and resume their normal lives as soon as possible.

There’s a popular weekly satirical show in Israel called Eretz Nehederet. In a recent episode, an actor playing Benny Gantz, the former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and newcomer to Israeli politics, is asked how he’s feeling.

Devotion to the cause of the State of Israel flourishes in the most unlikely places, even in societies where the Jewish presence is small to non-existent. Such is the case in Mozambique, where the work of Beth-El Associacao Crista Amigos De Israel - Mozambican Christian Friends of Israel - testifies to how much can be achieved by those inspired by their Christian faith to promote the Israeli cause, despite adverse conditions.

JNF’s unique “Blue Boy Box” now lives at King David Linksfield Pre-Primary so that children of each generation learn the importance of tzedakah (charity or welfare). It is the responsibility of Jews all over the world to build Israel, develop it and nurture it as the home of the Jewish nation

“Knowledge is Light” was our school motto when I was a child in Durban. The importance of education was made clear to us from as far back as I can remember. It wasn’t taken for granted. A good education was a privilege.

(JTA) Norwegian rapper not charged with hate speech
A Norwegian rapper who cursed Jews while performing at an event in Oslo promoting multiculturalism will not be charged with hate speech, because his words may have been criticism of Israel, prosecutors said.

Did Israeli soldiers violate international law by deliberately targeting unarmed children, journalists, health workers, and people with disabilities during the past year of violence along the Israel-Gaza border?

(JTA) After the New England Patriots beat the favoured Kansas City Chiefs to reach their third straight Super Bowl – their amazing ninth in less than 20 years – CBS sports analyst Boomer Esiason made an intriguing statement, namely that Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman belongs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

We are winging our way towards Human Rights Day (21 March), the first public holiday of the year, which coincides with Purim. I can’t help but wonder about our concept of human rights and what it means, not least of all, to our government.

President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed in parliament last week that South Africa intended to downgrade its diplomatic presence in Israel. The foreign affairs bureaucracy was working “feverishly” on the matter. “The decision to downgrade the embassy in Israel is informed precisely by the violation of the rights of Palestinians and we are therefore putting pressure on Israel. But at the same time, we are saying we are willing to play a role and ensure there is peace,” said Ramaphosa.

Undeterred, and in spite of the hate-filled disparagement that spewed forth when Shashi Naidoo uttered positive comments about Israel and Jews last year, Haafizah Bhamjee penned a reasoned and sensible article on Israel and the Palestinians in the SA Jewish Report of 22 February.

With Prince William’s historic visit to Israel this week, all eyes have been trained on the Jewish capital. It may have taken 70 years, but the first official visit by a member of the British Royal family began in Israel on Monday, when William, the Duke of Cambridge, arrived in Tel Aviv.

Some 5 600 emissaries (shluchim) from Chabad-Lubavitch from all over the world gathered at the Pier 8 warehouse in Brooklyn, New York this week for the opening of their four-day annual international conference and banquet, 75 years after the arrival of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, from Europe.

One of the questions that haunts the story of Purim and moves silently through the lines of the Megillah is clear and chillingly simple: How could Jews have chosen to remain in Persian Shushan? It was so clearly an environment in which anti-Semitism was so prevalent that a genocide could be planned and almost implemented without comment by broader society.

“The greatness of our nation is that our people are great. We are a nation of heroes, of people with good and decent moral fibre who will not tolerate our country being plundered!” So said Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein in Pretoria this morning.“This is a struggle for accountability and justice,” Goldstein told the crowd (which included prominent Jewish CEOs like Adrian Gore, Stephen Koseff and Michael Katz). “This struggle is about sovereignty. The power of the people always triumphs in the end.”

Cape Town shul gutted by fire

When it became clear that all five Sifrei Torah of Beit Midrash Morasha in Sea Point, Cape Town, had been lost in a massive fire around midnight on Tuesday, Rabbi Sam Thurgood tore his shirt and led a communal kaddish while flames lit up the night sky.

by
TALI FEINBERG | Dec 06, 2018

“When a Torah is burnt, it is almost as if a person has passed away. We will likely also have a fast day after Chanukah and a funeral for the Sifrei Torah,” said the rabbi the morning after an unexplained fire destroyed most of the shul.

Thurgood and his wife Aviva have been the shul’s leaders since November 2012. Standing stoically in front of the burnt-out shell of the synagogue the morning after the blaze, he said no foul play was suspected, and he was waiting for assessors to figure out how the fire had started. He emphasised that Chanukah candles were never left burning overnight.

Reflecting on the previous 12 hours, Thurgood said he got the call that his shul was on fire at about 23:00 on Tuesday evening, just four hours after he left following the evening services. “The fire department was outstanding and did everything it could to save the Sifrei Torah and other holy books,” he said. While most of the shul’s library was saved, and its mikvah, garden, and offices remain intact, the inner sanctuary and the Torah scrolls were obliterated.

Jeremy Kavnatdescribed in a call to ChaiFM how rabbonim were “saying tehillim, crying, howling, tears running down their cheeks, while they watched the shul burn. The most remarkable thing was the people who saved the siddurim, the teffilins, the talleisim... you would see firemen with gas tanks on their backs, their helmets on... they all went in like a unit, into the furnace, and came out with books ... ten, twenty books piled up,” he said.

“People who were not Jews, everybody was helping. They made a scrum, they went in for the next lot and the next lot... it was mind-boggling how these non-Jewish firefighters gave their all. The sweat was running down their faces. It was like a horror movie, like a small 9/11. At 2:00, Rabbi Thurgood announced that the Torahs were gone, and they started tearing their shirts and singing Hatikvah,” said the caller.

“It’s been a traumatic evening and morning,” said Stuart Diamond, the Director of the Cape South African Jewish Board of Deputies. “The response to the fire and efforts to extinguish the blaze were immediate, with 22 fire fighters and four engines at the scene. Thankfully there were no injuries. We gratefully acknowledge the valiant effort of the Cape Town Fire and Rescue Services, and extend thanks to the Community Security Organisation, which was deployed and co-ordinated the scene.”

Cape Board Chairperson Rael Kaimowitz said, “There was a sense of disbelief and helplessness as community members gathered outside. The spontaneous prayers, tehillin (psalms), and communal singing, together with a deep sense of mourning, was incredibly powerful. It highlighted in such a real and tangible way what a special community we have.”

The building is more than a hundred years old, and became a synagogue about 60 years ago. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, it was closed off to the public for safety reasons, but this did not stop the community from gathering for a solidarity shacharit service.

Rabbi Asher Deren brought through a Sifrei Torah from his shul, Chabad of the West Coast, which is across the city. Unusually for December, it was raining, but still people from all walks of life turned up in the early morning drizzle to daven. They were joined by fire fighters, passers-by, and Sea Point residents. Shul trustee Lance Katz took a pledge that his family would begin the task of underwriting a new Sefer Torah for the shul, hopefully supported by contributions from the whole community.

Across the road in the Bnei Akiva Bayit, hundreds of siddurim and books saved from the fire were carefully laid out to dry and to be catalogued by volunteers.

Support came from all sides, with a call for unity at this time of crisis. Monica Solomon, the National Chairperson of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), wrote that the SAUPJ was offering support to Beit Midrash Morasha at its time of need. “We are calling on our members to assist wherever possible. We need to stand together as one community during this terrible time.”

On social media, people from all over the world shared feelings of shock and helplessness, as well as memories of happier times. “Watching a shul burn and not being able to do anything is heart crushing,” tweeted Robyn Silverstone.

“We have made some of our best and closest friends at Morasha over the years. I talk about our special shul all the time at work, and they all wish they belonged to a community like ours. It feels like we have lost our home,” wrote Lee-Ann Lipman Gelb on Facebook. Ex-South Africans living overseas shared that whenever they return, this is where they daven. It represents home to them.

“We are heartbroken... this is the place where so many of us got married, brought our children into the faith, celebrated our Barmitzvahs, high holy days, and studied and prayed every day,” said Thurgood. “At the same time, there is a feeling of resolve and a commitment to rebuild it how it was before, or even better. We have faced adversity before, and we will face it head on again – and come out stronger.”

This sentiment was echoed by Aviva, who thanked Jews around the world for their unwavering support. “We have lost our home but not our community. The love and support will get us through and make us stronger.”

Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein wrote to the community that it could “take solace in the fact that, thank G-d, no human life was injured, and recognise that the letters of the Torah, the ideas contained within it, and the holy service of the Morasha community, will continue and never be destroyed.”

2 Comments

2
Joel Levy
06 Dec

Devastating event with so many religious and historuivcal items destroyed. Our company Burnshield would like to help in some way. Please advise your needs. Regards

1
Marilyn Levin
06 Dec

Selwyn and I arrived in Israel to the saddest and most unexpected news ever!!! Our shul burnt down in the night. So very sad. Will assist when we get home in January.